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Category: Living Well

Thankful For Legs And Grit

Published on November 27, 2024

For my workout yesterday, I did heavy weight lifting with a leg focus.

Today, I did a kick-a-thon at my martial arts school where I did 1,600 kicks in one class.

Tomorrow, I plan on doing the YMCA’s annual 8k Turkey Trot fundraiser run.

The day after that, I plan on playing pickup games of football, maybe even basketball, with friends and co-workers. And right after that, I plan on participating in a door-to-door food drive where flyers are dropped off at a few hundred houses asking them to leave non-perishable food on their porch that can then be picked back up at a later time and donated to our local food bank.

…That’s four pretty intense leg days in a row.

Why?

During a normal workout week, I would never do this. I would spread out the love and give my muscles a full 48ish hours to recover from one workout while I exercised other muscle groups.

But, every now and again… it’s good to push yourself.

…To do things that aren’t exactly rational to see what you are capable of doing.

Not necessarily to train the body (as I mentioned above, this probably isn’t super great for my body), but to train the mind.

Because “hard” in life is only in relation to the hardest things you remember going through and doing before.

And what you might find on the other side of something really hard… is days and weeks and maybe even months of increased “ease.”

Because if you can do THAT… what’s this one measly workout / challenge in comparison?

P.s. Happy Thanksgiving. Here’s a list of quotes and exercises to inspire gratitude and kindness :)

What I Learned From Reading A 970 Page Book

Published on November 26, 2024

Last week, I finished reading the longest book I’ve ever read.

It was 970 pages… and used a small font.

I say this because it’s something a younger me would always look out for and judge books by.

But, what I learned after having read this book is that those were awful, awful indicators as to whether or not a book should be read.

And what only added to my resistance of reading longer books with smaller fonts… was my goal of reading a certain number of books every year.

Knowing I was “5 books behind schedule” made me want to read short books with larger fonts so I could catch up… leading me to pick books based on superficial markers and not substance.

And so, no, I won’t reach my goal of reading 40 books this year… in fact, I’m going to end up being quite short of that.

But, it doesn’t matter. Because the whole point of goals is to give you a direction to drive towards… and I’d say, I’m driving towards what “40 books read this year” represents—much more so even than if I’d read a bunch of superficially chosen books and got to 45.

Don’t miss the forest for the trees.

P.s. The book I’m referring to above is Musashi—the classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Would recommend.

Sell Me Your Memories

Published on November 24, 2024

Think about some of your favorite memories.

Now reflect on the following question: how much would you sell those memories for?

As in, how much would someone have to pay you to take that memory from your mind and have it as their own?

…If you’re anything like me, your answer(s) might help you realize just how great the ROI is on experiences invested in.

…And those plane tickets, hotel costs, and days off work suddenly might not feel as expensive.

P.s. ICYMI, you can see the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

A Life Lesson From Karaoke

Published on November 24, 2024

…It’s only awkward if you make it awkward by hesitating, holding back, and only going halfway in.

…Going all-in is the sure fire, fool-proof way to making it 100% the opposite of awkward—regardless of who you are, how you sound, what you look like, or how you move.

All-in is the secret ingredient to fulfilled experiences in life.

Fantasizing About No Obligations

Published on November 23, 2024

In these moments, when I have a ton going when… when I feel like I want nothing more than a long break… when I fantasize about no obligations, no pressure situations, no producing results… when I feel like all I want to do is have wide open days, and weeks, and months to just read books, write words, and do whatever I feel like doing…

…I think about all of the people who are in the sunset phase of life who want nothing more than to revisit the busy days… who fantasize about the times when they had tons of obligations, were living some of their life’s limelight moments, and were producing not just results, but memories that make up the core of their life’s legacy…

And it’s in these thoughts that I try to bring myself back to the present moment. There will be a day when I wish I could come back to the very moments I’m thinking about being out of. And it’s here that I get to make the impression that my future self gets to think back on. And so no, today I won’t run from what’s in front of me… I’m going to embrace it. Fully and wholeheartedly. Not just for future me, but more importantly, for current me.

I hope you will, too.

There Is No Growth Without Death

Published on November 21, 2024

My sister made an important observation at brunch this morning.

She said, “I just really want to be happy and anything that doesn’t feel good at this phase of my life, I’m removing.”

And she went on to talk about how her loyalty to people and places of work—while easily considered a strength—has turned out to be, as of late, a burden. Because while being loyal to people and places creates trust and depth of connection, it can also become a source of stagnation and toxicity. And remaining loyal to stagnation and toxicity isn’t admirable at all—in fact, it’s being disloyal to the person we should always keep at #1: ourself.

While it can be hard to detach from people and places you’ve built longstanding connection and trust with, if it isn’t serving you anymore and is making you unhappy, closing that specific chapter can be one of the most generous things you can do for the spirit of the relationship. Because not only will it create a new, fresh space for you to contemplate and play with… but it’ll likely do the same for everybody involved.

…And it’s too often that each of us forget: there is no growth without some kind of correlated “death.” You can’t keep everything the same and grow. By definition, something has got to go.

The question is, what are you willing to sacrifice for the growth you desire so?

The Irrefutable, Inexchangeable Ingredient for Growth

Published on November 20, 2024

Once you understand how to improve flexibility, you understand what it takes to grow in most any area of life.

First of all, there’s no faking it. Your starting flexibility is your starting flexibility. You can lie to yourself all you want about being able to do a full split… spreading your legs apart as far as you can will tell its own irrefutable story. This is where all growth must start… with an honest inventory of where you’re actually at.

Second, there’s no cheating it. Yes, there are certain strategies and protocols that are more effective at improving overall flexibility than others… but they all involve two fundamental and unavoidable ingredients: tension and time. And generally speaking, a person’s gains are directly proportional to the amount of time they’re able to spend in tension. And what’s crucial to understand is that we’re not talking about amount of time in one session—we’re talking about overall time spent over the course of weeks, months, and years. It’s the same with growth in any other dimension. Overall time spent in tension is the irrefutable, inexchangeable ingredient that determines growth rate.

Third, there’s no finishing it. Your flexibility today is exactly that—your flexibility just for today. Tomorrow, it won’t be the same. It’ll either improve or regress—just like every other growth area. Flexibility is as flexibility does. Every day. No way around it. So focus less on finishing and focus more on pacing. A little bit every day beats a lotta bit only sometimes—in more life areas than you might think.

P.s. Need help spending more time in tension? My “Anti-Hustle, Habit Building” Guide is on SALE now…!